By DARRYN SMITH
A generous donation of almost $6500 has helped change the life of a local family who can now afford a wheelchair accessible car.
Petra Geitl and her son Jack, who suffers from cerebral palsy, began fundraising for a new car 10 months ago and can now afford to buy the much-needed vehicle to transport Jack and his electric wheelchair to school and around the community.
Petra, who currently drives a small Mazda 121, said the new car meant so much more to them than just a set of wheels.
“Jack said to me, when we get the new car, there is no need for you to take me to class because I can ride in like any other kid can,” Petra said.
Cerebral palsy is a disorder that is greatly improved through increased movement and the addition of the electric wheelchair was a breakthrough for Petra and Jack, with Jack’s speech and movement drastically improving.
“When in the electric wheelchair Jack makes his own decisions, it’s a whole new world for him as he can use it in public.
“It improves his space and distance skills and allows him to play with other kids,” Petra said.
Unfortunately, while Jack is making great progress in his electric wheelchair and other devices, they can only be used around the home because Petra had no means of transporting them to school or throughout the community.
Her Mazda, nicknamed The Shoebox, has only enough room for Jack’s manual wheelchair, which she needs to push for him, but thanks to the generosity of the community, anonymous donations, the Noosa Heads Surf Club and the Floral Shirt organisations, Petra will now be able to afford a specially designed Toyota Noah wheelchair access car.
“I’d like to thank the community for helping me raise the funds, it’s been a long journey but I have had a lot of people on board and now it is possible to get Jack into the community and do what he needs to do,” Petra said.
Co-ordinator of the Floral Shirts Michael Walsh and president of the Noosa Heads SLSC Greg Cowie were on hand to pass the $6350 cheque over to Petra.
They both said they were more than happy to help Jack and Petra raise the funds needed to buy the vehicle.
